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So, I've been doing the elimination diet and having been adding some foods back successfully. Some fruits and veggies, dairy, eggs, and fish were all fine. Then I tried quinoa. It was gluten free and everything. I mixed it with some fish and cheese that I've been eating for weeks, nothing new but the grain, and it did not go over well.

And now I'm terrified. I'm scared to move onto adding anything, but especially grains. Is there such a thing as an allergy to all grains? Because quinoa seemed like the grain with least amount of allergies, so it seems unlikely to be gluten and quinoa. I mean, I'll find out for sure as I add things...

So, are some people just allergic to grains in general? If so, what in the grains is the instigator?

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I know what you feel like, being afraid of food. It totally sucks. But I would advise not to go overboard with your conclusions. Along the way you will find there are just some foods your body just doesn't like. Quinoa may just be one. Maybe there's too much protein in it for your body to handle in that form. who knows. Give yourself plenty of time to rest from the experience, eat your trusted foods for a bit, and then try something else. I personally, can't have oats, even gluten free ones. And that is just that. Don't worry about the whole grain picture just yet. Sometimes, it just is what it is, and you can't kill yourself overthinking it. I hope you feel better soon!

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]Quinoa ( /ˈkiːnwɑː/ or /kɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish: quinua, from Quechua: kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds.

Just because it bothers you doesn't mean other grain-like things will. Skip it and try something else.

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]Quinoa ( /ˈkiːnwɑː/ or /kɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish: quinua, from Quechua: kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds.

Just because it bothers you doesn't mean other grain-like things will. Skip it and try something else.

Kareng is right. Quinoa actually is full of oxylates and isn't a true grain. Others may still agree with you. Try them out one at a time to see. If not, it might be a CC issue. If so, washing and drying and then grinding your grains can be an answer. For a few others, they do best on a no or low grain diet.

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Don't be scared. Remember, the whole point of an elimination diet is to find your reactions. If you don't react to anything you won't get the answers you're looking for. That's the REAL thing to be scared of, that you go to all the trouble and don't get an answer at the end! Try to welcome the reactions as more of an "Oh, good I found something" rather than a source of dread.

A lot of folks with bowel issues don't digest starchy foods very well. That may be part of what's going on with the quinoa.

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Don't be scared. Remember, the whole point of an elimination diet is to find your reactions. If you don't react to anything you won't get the answers you're looking for. That's the REAL thing to be scared of, that you go to all the trouble and don't get an answer at the end! Try to welcome the reactions as more of an "Oh, good I found something" rather than a source of dread.

A lot of folks with bowel issues don't digest starchy foods very well. That may be part of what's going on with the quinoa.

That is a much better way of looking at it. I will definitely try to change my mind set. When I started this I planned to stay positive and think like that, but somewhere down the road I guess that got a little lost?

Hm, that's possible. I didn't seem to have issues with potatoes though, and those are starchy, but maybe I'll have to keep an eye on that just in case.

Don't be scared. Remember, the whole point of an elimination diet is to find your reactions. If you don't react to anything you won't get the answers you're looking for. That's the REAL thing to be scared of, that you go to all the trouble and don't get an answer at the end! Try to welcome the reactions as more of an "Oh, good I found something" rather than a source of dread.

A lot of folks with bowel issues don't digest starchy foods very well. That may be part of what's going on with the quinoa.

I'm with Skylark -- I know it is hard at first to lose any food, but when you focus on the fact that you eliminated one more food causing you health problems it really does get easier. I am much happier and healthier now that I know most of the foods causing me problems.

Good Luck...oh and don't forget to trial Quinoa or other items you have adverse reactions to at some point in the future. I'm waiting another six months or so before I re-trial...but I am already looking forward to at least trying to get a few things back

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I'm with Skylark -- I know it is hard at first to lose any food, but when you focus on the fact that you eliminated one more food causing you health problems it really does get easier. I am much happier and healthier now that I know most of the foods causing me problems.

Good Luck...oh and don't forget to trial Quinoa or other items you have adverse reactions to at some point in the future. I'm waiting another six months or so before I re-trial...but I am already looking forward to at least trying to get a few things back

Yeah, I was contemplating that because there's the chance of having reactions when you first go gluten free, right? Does it often happen that things don't bug you if you wait a few months after finishing the elimination diet? That would be a nice surprise to be able to add things back later. =]

The reason for re-trialing is the hope with healing of the digestive track your body will properly digest some of the foods for which you have developed an intolerance.

It seems that those of us that went longer undiagnosed sometimes take longer to heal. Once the intestinal lining as a chance to heal and become less permeable so that our bodies can properly digest/disperse food without letting large particles enter the blood stream directly.

Good Luck and keep up the great detective work...you are on the right track even if it is a tough ride many days.

I got soy back after a year of so of mostly avoiding it. I got dairy back for a while but I seem to be reacting again. (Drat, drat, drat!)

Double drat...oh you already tripled the DRAT - with good reason...sorry you lost dairy again. I seem to be ok with some dairy (milk, cream, butter), but not cheese and yogurt - strange puzzles we are.

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Oh man, that sucks. You have a dairy reaction cycle or something. I wonder why that happens? Hm....

I had to go onto an antibiotic for bronchitis. After that my Hashimoto's titer went way up and I think it's when the dairy reactions started. I believe some bacteria I really needed got killed off along with the bronchitis and it started some leaky gut trouble.

Double drat...oh you already tripled the DRAT - with good reason...sorry you lost dairy again. I seem to be ok with some dairy (milk, cream, butter), but not cheese and yogurt - strange puzzles we are.

Yes, triple-drat.

There are amines in cheese and yogurt. I'm starting to wonder if that's the source of my reactions. A little butter doesn't seem to get me but cheese and yogurt do.

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I had to go onto an antibiotic for bronchitis. After that my Hashimoto's titer went way up and I think it's when the dairy reactions started. I believe some bacteria I really needed got killed off along with the bronchitis and it started some leaky gut trouble.

I had to take IV antibiotics last summer and my gut has not been the same since. Am heading to the doc this afternoon for suspected SIBO and maybe c.diff I wouldn't dream of trying to add anything back in right now. Don't know what's happening down south.....

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I had to go onto an antibiotic for bronchitis. After that my Hashimoto's titer went way up and I think it's when the dairy reactions started. I believe some bacteria I really needed got killed off along with the bronchitis and it started some leaky gut trouble.

My friend was on antibiotics and that's when she became lactose intolerant, so that sounds like the culprit. How terrifying that antibiotics can do that!

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My friend was on antibiotics and that's when she became lactose intolerant, so that sounds like the culprit. How terrifying that antibiotics can do that!

This is why I make my own lactose free yogurt, by fermenting it for 24 hours. I had way too many antibiotics that ended up messing with my flora even though I have taken oodles of probiotics.

Other folks find using Goats Milk makes a big difference. Others yet find making their own coconut milk yogurt or kefir works well for them.

I am also now making my own live whey inoculated cabbage sauerkraut to help re-populate my gut flora, and am also starting to experiment making my own sourdough rice bread.

So far everything is delicious, though the bread turned out rock hard! Next time I plan to put in some cooked yam or some applesauce to help the bread dough rise better and not be quite so hard... Thing is is that its been years since I have tolerated any raised bread at all, so this is a huge improvement already.

And definitely there is something about all these home made fermented foods that is making me feel a bit better too. It all tastes great and seems to calm my tummy somehow. It makes sense when you think about it since our forbears did not have refrigeration, and thus depended on foods like this rather than a lot of the denatured stuff we get these days.

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I also cant tolerate quinoa, or raw buckwheat, i can have buckwheat cereal, but very small amount and i don't bother anymore. My mum cooked buckwheat with veggies last night, to be honest, i didn't like it, it tasted like sugar puffs that had been left in milk too long. And voila this morning my stomach is not happy!!!

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I also cant tolerate quinoa, or raw buckwheat, i can have buckwheat cereal, but very small amount and i don't bother anymore. My mum cooked buckwheat with veggies last night, to be honest, i didn't like it, it tasted like sugar puffs that had been left in milk too long. And voila this morning my stomach is not happy!!!

Have you tried Millet? Its amazing!

I have yet to add Millet, but it's on my list as I add things back. I still have many grains to try!

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I reacted to quinoa when I first tried it as well. Then I read somewhere that quinoa needs to be rinsed very well before we can eat it. The brand I had said on the package that it was "Pre-rinsed" but I thought I'd try one more time.

So I rinsed the bejeebees out of it and was able to tolerate!

This may not work for you, but if you choose to retest, I'd definitely rinse the quinoa before you try again.

How to rinse quinoa...

Since it is so tiny, no colander will work. Place the quinoa in a large mixing bowl and cover it with cool water. Then take your hand and vigorously swirl the water and quinoa together (you can use a kitchen glove if you want to be extra safe). You will notice that the water looks milky. Pour off all of this water you can and repeat until the water is crystal clear. Be patient, it definitely takes a few rinsings to get there. Then cook! I adjust the water amount down slightly to compensate for the wetness of the quinoa.

I also use my rice cooker to make it and will often do half rice, half quinoa. The rice cooker makes cooking it a snap and adding rice helps mellow out the nutty flavor of the quinoa. Plus, rice is spectacularly cheap and it helps to stretch the expensive quinoa. Finally, for added flavor I will occasionally cook it with broth instead of just water. Yum!

I wish you joy in your kitchen as you begin this journey! Quinoa or not, focusing on what you CAN eat instead of what you can't is the only way to stay sane!

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I reacted to quinoa when I first tried it as well. Then I read somewhere that quinoa needs to be rinsed very well before we can eat it. The brand I had said on the package that it was "Pre-rinsed" but I thought I'd try one more time.

So I rinsed the bejeebees out of it and was able to tolerate!

This may not work for you, but if you choose to retest, I'd definitely rinse the quinoa before you try again.

How to rinse quinoa...

Since it is so tiny, no colander will work. Place the quinoa in a large mixing bowl and cover it with cool water. Then take your hand and vigorously swirl the water and quinoa together (you can use a kitchen glove if you want to be extra safe). You will notice that the water looks milky. Pour off all of this water you can and repeat until the water is crystal clear. Be patient, it definitely takes a few rinsings to get there. Then cook! I adjust the water amount down slightly to compensate for the wetness of the quinoa.

I also use my rice cooker to make it and will often do half rice, half quinoa. The rice cooker makes cooking it a snap and adding rice helps mellow out the nutty flavor of the quinoa. Plus, rice is spectacularly cheap and it helps to stretch the expensive quinoa. Finally, for added flavor I will occasionally cook it with broth instead of just water. Yum!

I wish you joy in your kitchen as you begin this journey! Quinoa or not, focusing on what you CAN eat instead of what you can't is the only way to stay sane!

Thanks for the detailed rinsing instructions! I read that too. I'm thinking I'll retest it a few months down the road and make sure to do a super thorough wash.

Enlarge PhotoA woman shows her quinoa grain for sale at a market in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday March …

Enlarge PhotoA woman shows a bag of quinoa grain for sale at a market in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday …

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian authorities say at least 30 people have been injured in a fight between two communities over land for growing quinoa, the Andean "supergrain" whose popularity with worldwide foodies has caused its price to soar.Oruro state police chief Ramon Sepulveda says combatants used rocks and dynamite against each other Wednesday and Thursday. A government commission was dispatched to the two high plains communities south of La Paz.

Farmland in the region is owned not by individuals but communities.

Authorities say the dispute is related to climate change because quinoa can now be cultivated in areas previously subject to frequents frosts.

Bolivia produces 46 percent of the world's quinoa, which has nearly tripled in price in the past five years.

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Hi Giggleburner! I just saw this post on the gluten-free page's wall on facebook, and I thought of this post immediately. I don't know how "valid" or true it is since I didn't looks it up from different sources though.

"Recent news about some quinoa being dried under a covering of barley has raised concerns about gluten free for Passover products that may not be as suitable as previously thought for those who are gluten sensitive or celiac. Some of these products test at 100ppm, which if you are not sensitive is ok. How do people feel about this? Share your insights and knowledge as many people will be out there purchasing non-gebrochts for Passover products that are readily available at this time of year. Help others be informed through personal experience."

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Forum Discussions

I do not have any ideas except to research other autoimmune disorders. Once you have one, you can develop more AI issues. Any possibility of drug side effects? For example the FDA has a black box warning in a class of antibiotics called fluoroquinilines (e.g. Cipro by Bayer). These can cause tendon issues.
Here is a list of autoimmune disorders. Not all are here, but it is a start.
https://www.aarda.org/diseaselist/
Ones associated with vertigo:
https://www.hindawi.c

And he needs to be super strict in his gluten free diet! SUPER strict, not just low gluten. No cross contamination, NONE.
I am so sorry, there are no short cuts with the testing. It flat out sucks but there you have it.
Welcome to the forum!